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Synonyms

do the dishes

Idioms  

  1. Wash the plates, glasses, and silverware used at a meal. For example, If you walk the dog, I'll do the dishes.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The humanoid bot can do the dishes, clean and fold laundry, but for now it also requires a human puppet master.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

He told Slate that Cannon’s reasoning reads as “kind of saying that she didn’t do the dishes and therefore the dishes are dirty.”

From Slate • May 15, 2024

"It's like when I make him do the dishes and he always misses a bit, I couldn't rely on him," she said.

From BBC • Feb. 27, 2024

"During the lockdown, they would have house parties, while we would keep up all night to make them snacks, serve them drinks, and do the dishes."

From Salon • May 18, 2022

I ask you now, please go and do the dishes and do the weeds in the garden.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.